MBBS students in Maharashtra to get crash course in 'humanity'

From August 1, MBBS students, including 3,160 pupils from Maharashtra, will begin their five-and-half-year journey with a one-month ‘Foundation Course’ on basic ideas such as humanity, ethics, doctor-patient relationship, doctors’ role in society, etc.

Institutions in Mumbai that will roll out the course include: Seth GS Medical College (attached to KEM Hospital), Grant Medical College (JJ Hospital), Lokmanya Tilak Medical College (Sion Hospital) and Cooper Medical College (Cooper Hospital). The curriculum will include yoga and pranayama, which will help students deal with stresses of college and work.

This is the first time the Medical Council of India (MCI) has come up with new syllabus regulations since 1997. The MCI’s academic council, which worked on the syllabus for more than two years, has substantially revised it to reflect the latest challenges facing healthcare industry/professionals in the country. It submitted its recommendations to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare earlier this year, which then approved them.

“Medical students in India come from diverse backgrounds in terms of geography, culture, language, economy, social construct, etc. The MBBS course is a highly challenging programme, which preparers the students for a lifetime of altruistic care and continued learning. It instils in them professional and ethical behaviour and respect for human interaction systems and processes. That is why we created the Foundation Course,” said Dr RK Vats, general secretary of MCI.

“The aim of the Foundation Course is to orient a medical student. Classes will begin with faculty explaining the history of medicine.

They will teach communication, language and other skills,” said Dr Avinash Supe, ex-medical director of KEM Hospital. Dr Supe was the part of the committee that set the new syllabus.

Dr Supe told Mirror that many students come from reserved categories. The course would help build a healthy atmosphere in campuses, he said.

“We will teach students ethics, communication skills, how to make friends, etc,” he said.